Oilcan and other drip-feed liquid containers



June 1, 1948. M. ANDERSON OILCANS AND OTHER DRIP-FEED .LIQUID CONTAINERSFiled Feb. 6, 1946 Patented June 1, 1948 OILCAN AND OTHER DRE-FEEDLIQUID CONTAINERS Martin Anderson, Sydney, blew fi qutli .Wales,Australia Application February 6, 1946, Serial No. 645,875 I InAustralia February 8, 1945 2 Claims.

This invention relates to containers from which liquids are required tobe dispensed in drops or other quantities which are small or fractionalrelative to the full capacity of the container. Such containers areherein called drip-feed containers, and examples thereof are oilcans,teapots, sauce-bottles and like vessels which when full are not usuallyemptied in a single pouring operation. The invention is primarilydirected to spouted oilcans and is described herein mainly in terms ofthat particular application thereof.

Existing drip-feed liquid containers are defective in that after adrip-feed therefrom, a small quantity of liquid invariably, orfrequently, trickles down the outside of the container, or the deliveryspout thereof, thus causing soiling of the container body, or of a usershands, or a table, bench or the like on which the container may berested.

The main object of the present invention is to counteract the stateddefect in a simple manner; and in a generalway, to provide a dripfeedliquid container (particularly an oilcan) which is more eiiicient andconvenient in use than existing containers of that kind.

The present invention may be summarised as the provision in or for adrip-feed liquid container of a tubular delivery portion or spout havinga trickle catchment reservoir which surrounds the spout and consists ina floor portion through which said spout extends, a coaming able toarrest liquid trickling externally of and from the spout towards theexterior of the body of the container, and a top flange inwardlydirected towards the spout whereby substantial liquid holding capacityremains to the reservoir when the container is tilted for drip-feedingtherefrom.

An example of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Fig. l is an incompletely sectioned side elevation of an oilcanrepresenting a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan projected from Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of a portion of the embodiment shown in Figs.1 and 2.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, an oilcan consists of a body 6 having handleI and a spout 8. The spout is set in a lid 9 which together with anannular portion III provides a top for the body 6. This top constitutesa floor for a trickle catchment reservoir which surrounds the spout. Theremainder of the reservoir is comprised of an upstanding coaming H and atop flange [2 which is directed inwardly towards the spout 8. Thecoaming ll arrests liquid trickling externally of and from the spouttowards the exterior of the body and the flange I2 ensures that when thecontainer is tilted for drip-feeding, a, substantial liquid holdingcapacity remains to the reservoir.

Internally of the body 6 the spout ends in an oil feeding assembly ofmore or less conventional design. This assembly comprises a U-tube [3, aspring loaded plunger piston M, an intake valve l5 and a discharge valveIS.

The lid 9 is held on annulus ID by a central screw I? which carries aplate nut is. The ends 19 of nut 18 are able to clamp against theunderface of annulus H], as shown in Fig. 3. A compression spring 20 ispreferably sleeved on screw ll between lid 9 and nut l8. The nut I8preferably has a notch 2| which by slidably riding on one limb of U-tubel3 prevents rotation of the nut.

By relaxing the nut l8 to the extent shown in Fig. 1 the lid and theparts mounted thereon may be lifted clear of the body, in one piece,when the body is to be filled. This arrangement of the spout and lidalso allows the lid to be turned to enable the spout (as indicated at 8Ain Fig. 2) to be selectively directed relative to handle 1, forconvenience in applying oil to awkwardly placed oil-holes.

In the illustrated, embodiment of the invention the catchment reservoiris of circular shape (in plan). It will be apparent that it may be ofother shape, and that there is no necessity for a reservoir to be of thesame shape (in plan) as that of the container body of the spout to whichit belongs.

What I claim is:

1. An oilcan comprising a body having a lid opening in the top thereof,an upstanding coaming on said body, which surrounds said lid opening, aflange which extends radially inwardly from the upper end of saidcoaming, a rotatable lid for said opening, a clamping screw which passesthrough a central hole in said lid, a plate nut on said screw able toclamp against the interior face of the top of said body, a compressionspring sleeved on said screw between the underface of said lid and saidplate nut, a delivery spout fixed on said lid, and means mounted on saidlid for feeding oil from within said body into said spout.

2. An oilcan comprising a cylindrical body having a lid opening in thetop thereof, an upstanding coaming on said body which surrounds said lidopening, a flange which extends radially inwardly from the upper end ofsaid coaming, a' rotatable lid for said opening, a clamping screw whichpasses through a central hole in said lid, a plate nut on said screwable to clamp against the interior face of the top of said body, a com-3 pression spring sleeved on said screw between the underface of saidlid and said plate nut, a delivery spout fixed on said lid, a U-tubewhereof one limb is constructed by an extension of said spout inwardlyof said lid, a spring loaded plunger slidable through said lid andwithin the second limb of said U-tube, an intake valve associated withsaid U-tube, and a. discharge valve within said U-tube.

MARTIN ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in thf file ofthis patent:

Number Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Rhoa-des June 4, 1878FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Sept. 25, 1922 Great Britain, 1894Feb. 2, 1895 Great Britain, 1892 Aug. 12, 1893 Great Britain, 1896 July31, 1897

